Fire and Ice
by Syl Evanesco
Summary: A new girl, with many secrets, moves to Forks. I don't really follow the time line, so a few things are different. JacobXOc. Don't like summaries, so read if you like.
1. Introduction

Tree's passed in a blur outside the windows, making the pit of my stomach turn ill when I tried to focus my eyes on them.

I gave up quickly and turned back to my mother, who had her foot on the gas peddle as far as she thought was a safe enough speed. Her right eye was squinted against the sun and due to the massive bruise now forming on her delicate face.

I couldn't help it, tears started forming in my eyes at the sight of her.

Seeing my distress she reached over and took my hand in hers.

"Don't worry honey, it's over, it's all over." She smiled, I think it was an attempt to reassure me that the danger was behind us. But that didn't stop the question from forming in my mind,

"_But for how long is it 'over' this time?"_


	2. Home

Boxes upon boxes filled up the rooms, reaching almost all the way to the ceiling, a cardboard hell. There were only two extra rooms besides the bathroom and combined open room of the kitchen, dining room, and living room area, but both of the bedrooms could well be considered closets.

A gust of wind blew open the door with a bang as a small, frail woman shuffled in with the last of the small boxes in her hands.

"Honey, do you want to start unpacking the stuff for you new room?"

I bit my lower lip as I wheeled around to face my mother. Though I was several inches taller than her even five foot height, I was still intimidated by her. Her dark eyes were warm, but her face showed years of age that the rest of her body had yet to live through.

"Are we actually staying here this time mom or are we going to move again in a few weeks?"

She placed the boxes in the middle of the floor and placed a warm hand on my shoulder. "Andrea, we're safe now, two thousand miles away. As far as I'm concerned, we're going to stay here as long as we can."

I nodded and made my way into the smaller of the two tiny bedrooms. My boxes, though few there were, crowded the room that already had my full size bed and small dresser set up in opposite corners. There was only one window, across the room from my bed that looked over the steep back yard into the thick forest. I didn't have much to unpack, moving around several times every few months usually ensured that I kept my amount of possessions limited.

My clothes were simple, nothing ever more than jeans and t shirts, an occasional skirt and blouse was thrown in there as well. I didn't have many pictures, family wasn't as important as some made it seem, and I already knew what I looked like so I didn't need a reminder. I propped up my full length mirror in the corner on the other side of the window and stared at it. It was amazing what two years of running could do to a persons physical appearance. And by running I don't mean as an activity or sport. I mean running from someone.

Despite my height my body was almost as frail as my mothers, though I tried harder than her to not let the stress of hiding get to me. I was defiantly bigger than her in almost every area of the body, but as she so often said, it wasn't a bad thing. I didn't look anything like her though; she was tan, with dark brown hair and even darker eyes. But I looked like my father with pale skin and blond hair that I kept long.

I didn't get past unpacking everything though. The sun was so close to setting and since mom was busy unpacking the kitchen, I decided to try to get out and think. The best way to do that was to climb through my window and run out the back.

I didn't stumble as much as I thought I was going to when climbing down the embankment we now called a back yard. But by the time I was halfway down, my jeans and black tank top were dusted with dirt and grass stains. I was lucky when I reached the bottom to find a path that lead straight into the thick forest.

The towering tree's, with their dark black shadows, didn't scare me, the darkness and the woods comforted me in ways that a house with walls and running water could not. Out in the forest, I could feel free, free from life, from my family, and from running. Here I could run because I wanted too, not because I had to.


	3. UnNatural Friend

After a short while the trail slowly began to disappear beneath my feet as the ground shifted from a clean cut forest floor to an overgrown meadow. It was a small clearing, surrounded by the tree's, with only a small spring in the middle that ran down the mountain.

Here was perfect to just sit and think. The sun hadn't set yet, so an eerie red glow was cast around the meadow, but up against one of the trees that lined the edge, it was peaceful.

I didn't have to worry about my mother noticing if I was gone. After each move, it was typical for her to indulge herself in her chosen form of intoxication and spend the rest of the night wasting away in her room. I loved my mother, and wished more than anything that she didn't do those things, but with the way life had gone for her so far, I didn't blame her for turning all her problems to the bottle.

For a moment, and a moment alone, I believed to be alone. So when the sound of something heavy crunching down onto fallen branches in the forest behind me, I froze, too frightened to move. Instinct told me that it was going to find me, it was the only thing I could assume in such a position. Within seconds I could hear heavy, deep breathing coming from the other side of the tree. My hands were flat on the ground, trembling, but I had enough sense in me to raise one of them to cover my mouth. I said a silent prayer in my head as I heard it move, willing it to be anything less than a monster so that I might live another day.

But I was wrong. When it rounded the tree, coming around to face me, I almost fainted. Almost, but didn't. I wished I would have. A wolf, or at least, I thought it was a wolf, was staring down at me. It had to be at least six feet tall standing on all fours, and it was huge, a towering beast. It stared at me for a second, with it's deep powerful brown eyes, almost as if it was searching me, trying to decide if I was a meal or not.

It didn't growl, or hunch back in an attack position. Instead, it lowered it's head as it crouched down on all fours so that it wasn't much taller than me. The big beast, was just a giant teddy bear, or so it was leading me to believe.

I slowly took my hand away from my mouth, and cursing my own stupidity, started reaching forward with my fingers curled down as if I was letting a dog sniff me for the first time. It did, whether it was a he or she, I couldn't really tell, but due to it's size, I was just going to assume it was a male. He seemed content in the way I smelled, and obviously didn't view me as a threat as he laid down even further, resting his massive head at my feet.

I very slowly lifted by hand to stroke through his dark main and let out a sigh, causing him to shift slightly and look up at me, as if expecting me to say something aloud.

"Only I would find friendship in such an un natural place." I didn't mean any offense by it, but it wasn't like he could understand me, so I resumed stroking his head and neck.

It was odd, I had never known a wolf to behave in such a way. But he was so warm to the touch, so soft, that alone told me he wasn't just a normal wolf.

"Are you an outcast too?" I decided to amuse myself in talking to him, finding it oddly comforting and easy. Not to mention, it was easy to trust something that couldn't spill your secrets, even if they couldn't talk back.

He nuzzled his head against my ankles and I laughed, it was funny, almost as if this creature could understand me.

Before long, the sky was filled with stars, and the creatures of the night started to come out in a chorus of noise. It was only then did I realize that I had no idea which direction was home.

"Well boy, I'd love to stay here and chat with you some more, but I really had better go home."

He didn't budge from his spot, and though I desperately needed to go, I was afraid to try and physically move him simply because of his size.

"It would help if I knew which way to go." I mumbled it more to myself than the creature I was currently attempting to squirm out from underneath. But at my words, he shot up with lightening fast speed. I jumped back slightly when he turned his large body back around to face me, even when I was standing; he was still much bigger than me.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around boy." I stroked his face one last time before starting out in the direction I hoped was the right way.

But the wolf didn't leave, instead, he was walking right by my side. It was strange, and what was even stranger, I was ok with it. I wasn't scared of the noises of the woods, of by the never ending darkness. I kept close to him, so close that my skin was constantly lightly brushing up against his warm fur. The temperature had started to drop dramatically with the fall weather, and it was all I could do to keep from shivering. But his warmth, the warmth of an unlikely friend, was enough to keep me awake and far from freezing, all the way back home.


	4. Different Set of Eyes

_That scent, there was something different, something sweet, something so powerful about it, I couldn't help but let it guide my legs. Something shifted in the wind and the scent became stronger. It was so pleasant, so intoxicating; I thought I was going to lose my mind if I didn't find out where it was coming from._

_My willing legs carried for several miles off track of where my normal run took place, but I was the only one on duty tonight, a few minutes on a small adventure couldn't hurt anything. _

_When I was almost to the small clearing the smell was so strong it almost knocked me over, but I needed more of it. I needed to see what it was. I perked my ears towards a small rustling around a rather large tree right on the edge of the woods and slowly started inching forward. _

_My curiosity paid off when I came face to face with what could have been the most beautiful human I had ever seen. Her jeans were torn and covered in grass stains, and her shirt was full of wrinkles, but they weren't what I was looking at. A small patch of dirt stood out against her pale skin that was almost breathtaking in the low sun light. Her hair almost glowed, and not from sweat, or from hair products, I couldn't smell any of that on her. It just naturally glowed. _

_Her hand was covering her mouth, and it took me a moment to realize why, I wasn't human. My heart couldn't bear the look of terror on her face, so slowly, and as gently as my massive body allowed me to do, I lowered myself down to her level. For a moment I held my breath, I don't think she knew it, but I was at her mercy being this exposed._

_Surprisingly, she lowered her hand, and held it out as if she wanted me to sniff her. I chuckled in my head, she must have thought I was a mutant dog or something. But I couldn't resist smelling her skin, her beautifully flawless skin. It was like taking a breath of heaven's fruit. I wished more than anything I could compare the scent to something, but nothing I had ever come across matched the power that emitted of her body._

_So I took it one step further and laid down beside her, I may not have been able to talk to her, but I could feel her. And she was a gentle creature, sweet, and caring, all that was on her sleeve that she wore so cautiously._

_I let her pet me, she seemed to enjoy it more than I did._

"_Only I would find friendship in such an un natural place." Her voice was angelic as she mused over the situation. But she was right, it was an un natural place. How I wished more than anything I could have met her in my human form, could have talked to her, and have her not be scared of me. But for tonight, it would be impossible._

_She spoke some more, but I was hardly paying attention to all her words. All that struck me, was her not knowing her way home. No way was I going to let her make the journey alone in the chilly weather. I reluctantly let her stand, refusing to leave her side as she did so. If I left, she would freeze to death._

_Ok, maybe that was a bit drastic, but I just didn't want to leave. _

_Our walk through the woods was a quick one, much to quick for my liking, and she departed way to soon. I had such strong desires for her, and I didn't even know her name. But that didn't matter, all that mattered, was that I see her again._

_I retreated back into the woods as her house came into sight, but stayed close by to watch until she was safely inside. Though I would have rather slept outside the angel's window all night long, I had duties to do._

_At least tonight, while I was alone, I could let my mind wander back to her, and no one else had to know._


	5. Whiskey Lullaby

"Andrea! Where have you been darling! I was so worried about you!" My mothers drunken form nearly knocked me off my feet as she stumbled to properly hug me while grasping onto a vodka bottle.

"Mom, I just went out on a walk, I'm fine. Now, I think we'd better get you to bed." I closed the door with my foot as I wrapped my arm around my mother back, leading her into her unpacked, messy, and slightly smelly bedroom.

"But Andy, I don't want to sleep, I want to, um, celebrate. We're free!" She tried to start singing, but by the time she had taken a seat on the bed, the wrenching in her stomach began and on instinct, I pulled the waste basket out from the corner and set it beside her.

"I'm going to go to bed mother, I'm sure you won't remember tomorrow, but we have a meeting with the Forks High School principal." She didn't reply, only continued to drink from her bottle and look at me like I was crazy.

I accepted defeat with her, and returned to my hollow room. It was a typical night, it was a celebration night for her. Every time we moved, every time we escaped and got away, she saw it as a victory. But what she didn't see was that her victory was her worst enemy, and the reason for being pursued.

I un boxed my sheets and comforter from the depths of their hiding place and slowly put them on the bed before digging out my pajamas. I turned out the light, but my room was still brightly lit by the light of the new harvest moon, so I left my curtains open. Crawling into bed, I couldn't help but think about the wolf, if he had a family, and why he was so different, and more importantly, if I would see him again.

Finding sleep to be a near impossible thing, I turned on my radio and slowly let the turn of Brad Paisley's Whiskey Lullaby fill my ears and my dreams.


	6. Eyes

Those eyes haunted my dream like they haunted my waking hours. Only this time, it was a different pair of eyes rather than the cold hazel ones I was used to having follow me through the darkness.

I awoke to a cloudy sun peering over the clouds and tree tops; it had to have been late in the morning. It was rare that I ever slept in this late, but since I didn't have to start school until tomorrow, I decided to seize the opportunity.

I decided against my better judgment that since it was almost lunch time, I had better at least attempt to wake my mother up. I slipped on my fuzzy blue slippers to avoid the cold floor and shuffled lazily to her room.

There she laid; face down in the waste basket, with an empty bottle clutched in the hand. Her dark hair was plastered all over her face almost with a small drool line, and her body was going to be sore as soon as she got up from being in such an odd position.

I gently shook her shoulder.

"Mom, mom you need to get up."

"Andrea, please lower your voice and let me sleep." Her mumbling was almost incoherent, but I had heard it enough to be able to understand what she was saying.

"Mom, we have a meeting at the school today to talk about my transfer records, you need to get up." She groaned and grabbed at her head, but eventually got up from her spot. Her flannel shirt was wide open, leaving her standing there in basically nothing but her underwear. "Mom, take a shower and I'll drive."

Thankfully she didn't need me to point out which direction the bathroom was in, so that left me plenty of time to get myself ready. First impressions were always a must with me. Since the school year had already started, it was important to try and be on my best behavior and get in. The only reason we had to have a meeting was due to problems with my transfer records.

I finally found my floor length dark brown skirt and white v-neck peasant blouse. It wasn't my usual attire, but it was nice without being over the top fancy. I slipped on my only pair on sandals and set myself out on the mission of finding my mothers car keys.

I loved it when I was able to drive, though I hated the circumstances. I was seventeen, so I did have my license, but we changed states so often that I eventually stopped getting it changed and just decided to wait until I was eighteen and could move where I wanted. We owned a large black suburban that was a gas guzzler, but had plenty of space. It was our home on wheels sometimes, and was the only thing of real value we ever really owned.

My mother appeared shortly after I found the keys, coffee in hand and her eyes closed the second she stepped out on the porch. She was dressed simply enough in a crimson blouse and black slacks, her make up hide the bags under her eyes well, and her hair was almost perfect.

"Tell me again why I have to meet with your new school?"

I ignored her moody behavior, it was typical and would be over by tomorrow. Well, it should as long as she didn't decide to celebrate again.

"They're having problems with my transfer records. Apparently some of them got lost in the process of switching schools every few weeks."

"Well, I hope it doesn't take long, I have to run by the store afterwards."

"I don't think it's going to take that long mother, but we'd better get going."

She grumbled and set her mug down on the porch railing, obviously not wanting to walk back in the house to take it to the sink. I climbed into the drivers seat and adjusted it to better fit my taller body.

"Andy, my glasses," She asked, pointing to the visor above my head.

I un clipped them and handed them to her. How she was planning to hide her bloodshot blue eyes from the school principal, I didn't know. I hadn't noticed it before because I had seen them like that many times before. I just hoped no one else would notice too much.


	7. Blondes

The drive through Forks was nice, a bit longer than I expected, but nice. The clouds shielded the land from any harsh rays, and the mountains were beautiful. It took about fifteen minutes to reach the school from where our new house was. I think the only reason it even took that long is because our house was on the borderline, and it was the cheapest thing available.

Forks High School wasn't a very big campus, so it wasn't that hard to find the main office. School was obviously still in session due to the amount of old beat up cars in the parking lot. That fact alone made me more nervous about the meeting.

I parked the car as close to the building as I was permitted, knowing full well my mother was not in a walking mood. I wished more than anything she would stop her habits, but where was it my place to ask? She was the adult in the situation, and until I became one myself, I was forced to live with her rules, and that meant, living by her choice of lifestyle.

Not that there was much choice in the way we had to live.

"Come on Andy, stop day dreaming," My mother snapped from the door to the small brick building.

Speaking of habits, I hated mine how when I was about to get into deep thought, I stared off into space and completely disconnected from my surroundings. It was a symptom of the past, a flaw I had developed from childhood, and just couldn't seem to leave it there.

Inside was just a small reception area, with only a few doors leading out. The receptionist was a plump small woman, who looked bored and older than she should have appeared. I guess dealing with adolescents your whole adult life was bound to wear down anyone.

My mother immediately walked up and introduced herself, but I was only half paying attention.

"Hello, my name is Hailey Horn, I'm here about my daughter, Andrea's, transcripts."

And that is about the time my attention was caught elsewhere.

There he was, just sitting in a chair next to the door we had come into before. But I didn't see him then, he was so still, so obviously trying not to stand out, but he did. He was unlike anything I had ever seen before and it was just rude to be that beautiful around people who never stood a chance. At first he didn't notice me glancing at him, but soon he did. His eyes locked with mine, his perfect body stood up, his blonde hair gentle swaying as he did so, and without a word, dashed out of the office. I couldn't help but stare where his pale body had just been. There was just something about him, something I wanted to know more about, but a strong feeling in the hollow of my heart told me there was a reason he darted out of there so quickly, and it wasn't because of the receptionist's perfume.

"Andy, you're doing it again sweetheart, come on." I barely noticed my mother tug my arm into the direction of the principal's office.

During the meeting, they talked, all I had to do was introduce myself and then sit there like a well behaved child. I didn't pay much attention; education was the farthest thing from my mind. His face, so perfect, so flawless, it was un human almost.

Not that it really mattered to me when helping mother choose a place to live, but I wasn't counting on such strange happenings to take place in such a small town. First the wolf, and now the strangely beautiful student, well, I assumed he was a student.

This was defiantly going to be an interesting place to live.


	8. Duties

"_How many times must I tell you I'm sorry Sam?"_

"_Sorry doesn't cut it Jacob. You had a job to do last night, a duty to this land, and you screwed up!" His voice was raised, it surprised me he hadn't phased in anger yet, but he was close to it, it was only a matter of time._

"_I got distracted."_

"_I know you got distracted Jake! The whole pack knows you 'got distracted'. And by a girl no less? I thought you honored your duty more than that."_

"_It did, I mean, it does. There was just something about her Sam, something different."_

"_Don't tell me, you didn't, Jake, you didn't on her? You don't even know her, don't know anything about her, why couldn't you just have followed orders last night?"_

_Normally, I was never intimidated by the Alpha Male, he wasn't much bigger than I was, and he was the only one that could ever hold his temper at bay. But as he paced back and forth, a good distance from me, he seemed to grow bigger in anger._

"_What if something happened last night Jake, while you were keeping watch on your new little friend? What if we needed you? Would you of come?"_

"_You know I would have Sam, I'm hurt you'd even have to ask that."_

"_How could you be so stupid Jake."_

"_It's not stupid, and you're one to talk. Look at your past. At least I didn't maul the girl half to death." That was a low blow to him, far below the belt, and I knew it, but he deserved it, he had no right preaching to me about such things._

"_But why in your wolf form? Hun? How are you going to explain that? Or are you just going to follow her around like an overgrown puppy? I don't think anyone is going to approve of that."_

"_I'll fix that."_

"_Yeah, I'll bet you will. Until then, you're running double shifts with Jared and Paul."_

"_What! But Sam, school is about to start, I'm going to need to sleep."_

"_You can sleep when you earn it and honor your duties. You'd better start now, your next shift starts in four hours, you'll be off duty at six am." He crossed his arms and defiantly wasn't going to take any more arguing from me._

_The nerve of him. Anger boiled to the very brim of my skin, and knowing very well I couldn't take it out on him, the victim of my rage was an old tree nearby. Punch after punch, it went down into twigs and toothpicks. I guess Paul wasn't the only other one with anger issues._

_But Sam just didn't understand. He knew the complications that our kind brought into the world, but yet, he just didn't think it was worth anything. He has his sorted out, so that meant peace for everything. What I hated most, is that he could never see things from the other side of a situation. To him, everything was black and white, but to me, there was so much grey, so much color, everywhere. It was a fascinating world, and it was this world in it's weird ways, that brought me to such a creature. _

_And I'd be damned if all she'd ever know was the side of me I was least proud of. She wasn't going to love the monster. She was going to love the boy._


	9. Shopping

"Thank you for taking the time to see us Mr. Edsur." I bet he didn't know that was my mothers fake polite voice, but it wasn't her voice he was paying attention to, and it was obvious.

"No problem Miss Horn, I'm just glad we were able to sort out everything so young Andrea can start school tomorrow."

She shook hands with him one more time while I waited in the door way. Another typical behavior of my beautiful mother that made my insecurities and lack of self esteem plummet to dangerously low levels. She was always noticed by the male gender, always appreciated. Most of the time at least. The only good I ever saw that came of it, was getting what she wanted.

School was out by the time we exited the building, the parking lot which once held many cars was now vacant. My heart sank a little when we reached the vehicle. A large part of me was hoping to see the beautiful boy again, but I could tell that wasn't going to happen.

"I think I saw a small grocery store up the road a little ways Andy, why don't we stop there before heading home."

"Ok mother." I secretly had hoped that she would have just given me the money and I could have stopped after school tomorrow, that way we would end up with things we actually needed, but deep down I knew that was never going to happen.

Sometimes I questioned if my mother really trusted me or not, or if she truly believed she knew what was best for me. After all, her decisions this far haven't exactly turned out great. But I couldn't blame her for all of them. She didn't make him the way he was. She didn't make him do those things.

No, I couldn't go there, not now. I hated when I had to force myself out of those thought trains, but it was so easy to get lost in one.

Mother was right, a small grocery store, next to an even smaller two pump gas station was less than a mile down the road from the school.

"Andy, you've been awfully quiet today, is there anything you want to talk about?"

I folded my arms protectively over my chest and walked with her into the store.

"I'm just worried mom. He's found us every time, even when we use alias's. I don't want to move again, and I don't want to have to live with him again mom."

"I know you don't sweetie, and I'm sorry it's taken this long, but I don't think he's going to find us here. We're safe here."

"But for how long mom? He has the countries best lawyers and private investigators trailing us." I had to bite my lower lip to keep it from shaking and bringing on the tears.

"Once you graduate honey we'll be able to move you out of the country, you won't ever have to worry about him again."

"But that's two years away. Are we going to be able to stay here for two years?"

"We will honey, I know it will be hard, but if we keep a low profile, we'll be able to do it."

I just nodded and continued keeping my arms wrapped around myself as she started filling up the shopping cart with whatever she thought we needed. I was surprised, only twenty minutes later and she was ready to leave with hardly any alcohol in the cart.

One thing I knew about my mother, and though I wasn't playing it to my advantage this time, was that she always got more motherly after I brought up how scared I was of the man we ran away from.

She knew why I was the way I was. It took years for her to stop blaming herself for it, but eventually she accepted the fact she was the adult in the situation and needed to act like one.

We left the grocery store in silence; I was too wrapped up in my own head to notice anything else after we had entered. The faces didn't register in my mind, the voices over the intercom sounded fuzzy, and even the ride home was faster than I thought it should have been.


	10. Different Set of Eyes II

"_Jake do this, Jake do that, Jake I need you to bow down and kiss my feet."_

_Nag... nag… nag…_

_That's all I heard for the past few hours. Not only did the Alpha male assign me extra duties, but he also had the nerve to make me to the grocery shopping. Just my luck too, the only store in La Push was out of almost everything Emily wrote down for the pack to eat for the next few days._

_But did Sam care? Not at all. Did he mind that I had to drive all the way into town with a car that could probably blow up any moment since I had yet to finish fixing it up? _

_I was speeding, I knew I was. But what were the chances that one of the three cops in Forks was on the road I was on? I decided to risk it, and it paid off. I arrived way before I planned too._

_Not only that, but my breath was caught in my throat and my stomach turned in painful knots as I caught sight of the pair walking into the grocery store._

_It was her, the girl from the woods. Though she looked so different, dressed in clothes any self respecting girl would love to be able to wear properly. Her hair was shimmering in the low sun, something very unusual especially in this weather. But as the breeze picked up, blowing her skirt around her ankles, I caught her scent, and it was so strong it rolled my eyes into the back of my head for a matter of seconds. _

_Oh how I wanted to just go up to her, to tell her what had happened that night. But now wasn't the time. Everything inside me screamed at me to approach her, to introduce myself, to do something. But the look on her face, and the way she was holding herself told me I should wait. _

_I had to focus all my self control on not reaching out to comfort her. She wasn't crying, but it was obvious she was about to, and keeping herself from it. I wanted to make her world better._

_Screw grocery shopping. _

_I followed her. Sure it may have sounded creepy, and to any by standard, it probably would have looked like it. But really, I just wanted to hear her voice again. _

_Unfortunately for me, she didn't talk since she entered the store, and left quickly with who I assumed was her mother. _

"_Hey! Boy! You going to buy something or just stare out the door all day?" I glared at the cashier who was yelling at me, and though I continued to do nothing but wonder about the girl, I went back to finish my shopping. _


	11. School

Sleep was difficult, the anticipation of school was overwhelming and the fear of being found there again was a fear that wasn't easily dismissed in my head.

The wind howled steadily outside, part of me wished that it was the wolf howling instead. My mother decided to stay up late wanting to talk about why she chose Forks for us to live. I didn't want to, but I couldn't disrespect my mother, so I stayed put, instead of doing what I wished and going out to see if I could come across that wolf again.

I mused at the thought of bringing home such a large animal and asking my mother if I could keep him as a pet. She would have a fit and at least half of her hair would turn grey the moment she saw it.

I finally did fall asleep in the early morning hours, and woke up slowly when my alarm started beeping.

Today was the first day of school. Well, today was my first day of Junior year. Everyone else had been in school for at least two months already. Good thing I was used to being a new kid, or my nerves would have been impossible to deal with.

I showered quickly, and braided my slightly damp hair to keep it out of the way. I grabbed a pair of jeans, an orange spaghetti strap tank top, and a grey sweatshirt before putting on my hiking boots. I should have had rain boots, but hadn't had a chance to buy any yet.

Fog was close to the ground as my mother and I made our way to the suburban after skipping breakfast. My mother had gotten a job at Newton's Sporting Goods, and since we only had one vehicle, I dropped her off in the morning. Thankfully people are here were friendly, and since she wouldn't get off until late that night, the owner offered to be her daily ride home.

I parked a little farther away from the other students than was necessary. I had yet to see any of them drive, and was worried that they might not be able to park beside such a massive car. My book bag was empty, so the walk to the main building wasn't tiring or difficult. I guessed that by the end of the day it would be.

There were a few other small buildings around the main office, and I wasn't exaggerating when I said small. This campus was tiny compared to what I had seen before. Navigating shouldn't be a problem.

The receptionist was in a hurry, so I didn't get to ask her many questions. But she gave me my schedule, a map of the place and wished me luck before answering more phone calls.

My first class was English. I picked up my pace when walking to the building after the wind started stinging my face. I didn't take my sweatshirt off before I took my seat in the small room, and tried my best to ignore the way everyone was looking at me.

I should have expected it to be different than the other schools. This school was tiny, of course I wasn't going to get away with going un noticed like I had before. The whispers continued behind my back even after the teacher called class to order.

"Class it seems we have a new student today. Miss Horn, would you please stand up and introduce yourself to the class?"

I felt my face turn red as I slid out of my seat to face the entire class. They all stared at me, as if they'd never seen another human being outside the ones they grew up with.

"Um, my name is Andrea Horn, and I just moved here with my mother."

I decided that was enough to tell them, so after shooting the teacher an apologetic look; I slid quickly back into my seat and shrunk down. I stayed that way all through class. Mr. Burns eventually passed me a book and a syllabus for the course. I was lucky I did so much extra reading and had already read most of the books on his list.

Fifty minutes later and it was time for French.

I started to shove my books in my bag, and was planning on going directly to class, but once I was outside the classroom, someone jogged up beside me.

"So you're the new girl everyone is talking about." It was a statement, not a question; it was obvious I stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Yeah, I just moved here this week."

"I know. Your mother works for my family. I'm Mike Newton." I finally actually looked at him. He wasn't much of a man, had very round cheeks and far too much product in his spiked hair.

"Andrea Horn." I would have shaken his hand if my cold fingers weren't plunged deep into my sweatshirt pockets.

"I know."

"Did you know that everyone calls me Andy, not Andrea?"

"No, I didn't. What class do you have next?"

"French." We exited the building together.

"Awesome, I do too, come on, I'll show where it is!" He was way too excited for my liking, but it was cute, at least I didn't have to walk alone this time.

I gladly sat next to him in class, and thankfully this teacher didn't make me stand up and introduce myself. French was my hardest class. I wasn't much good with foreign languages, but it was a required course to graduate.

It dragged on, and though I tried to follow along, I was lost. I had never been happier, at least today, when the bell rang ending class.

"Hey Bella!" Mike called over to another girl who was sitting in the back of class.

"Yeah Mike?"

"I want you to meet someone. Andy, this is Bella, she just moved here a few months ago as well."

Bella was pale, almost as pale as me, with crystal clear skin and dark hair. She was so thin, immediately making me jealous, but she greeted me with a small smile. Her face gave away her shy personality.

"So we're all going to La Push tomorrow to kick start the weekend, would you like to come?" Mike wasted no time in getting the two of us moving and out the door, grabbing my schedule from my hands.

"Um, sure, what's La Push?"

"It's the Indian reservation about ten minutes away," Bella answered while Mike studied the paper.

"Oh, well, sounds like fun."

"It should be. We're going to meet at his parents store around noon."

"Oh, Bella, Andy has her next class with you," He finally spoke, giving me back my paper.

"Come on, you can walk with me, I guess we'll see you at lunch Mike." He waved quickly before leaving for another building. Ours was in the same building, just on a different level.

School defiantly wasn't so bad after I met people, and from the sounds of it, I was eating lunch with them after History. I really hoped that the rest of the day went like that, or even better, but unfortunately, all I could do was wait during class.


	12. The Cullens

There he was, only meters away from the table Bella had taken me to after History. The mystery guy from yesterday was sitting with a small group of people just on the other side of the cafeteria. What surprised me the most was how perfect they all seemed to be. They must have been related, there would be no other logically explanation for it.

He was beautiful, dazzling even, but it wasn't a romantic crush that caused me to be curious about him. No, it was something else, something un known, deeper maybe.

I had already forgotten the names of everyone that sat at the table, except for Bella's boyfriend. How could I forget Edward when he was almost just as beautiful as the blonde across the room?

"Are you staring Andy?" Asked Bella from my right, between myself and her boyfriend.

"Hm, no, just day dreaming I guess." I wasn't lying, it was the partial truth.

"You've been looking over at the Cullen's table practically the whole time," snarled Mike, obviously disliking what I chose to look at during the period.

"The Cullen's?"

"They're my family," Edward finally spoke for the first time; "Dr. Cullen and his wife adopted all of us."

"Oh, so all of them are your brothers and sisters?"

"Yes."

"Must be nice having siblings. I'm an only child."

Bella agreed with me, though Edward found our opinions to be funny. According to him, siblings could be annoying and un stoppable when they wanted to be. But that didn't discourage my argument of at least always having someone there.

That was a fact he couldn't argue with.

Edward seemed to drift from the conversation during the rest of lunch. Like I had been before, he was now staring over at his family's table.

"So who all have you invited to go to La Push?" Bella finally broke the un comfortable silence by talking to Mike.

"Not too many people. Just you, Andy, Laura, Eric, Jennifer, and some others have yet to get back to me."

"What is there to do at La Push?" I asked, taking a small bite out of my sandwich.

"There's First Beach, and hiking, we always light a fire, plenty of outdoors stuff."

Perfect, just my type of outing. I would have rather spent the weekend outdoors than in some stuffy mall more than anything.

"Wait, when did you decide you're going to La Push?" Edwards gazed snapped back around to focus on Bella.

"I was going to tell you later. Mike invited everyone along to the beach for a bonfire and hiking."

"Bella you know how dangerous it is up there."

"Dangerous?" It was my turn to ask the question.

"It's nothing Andy, don't listen to them. Some hikers have just seen some bears." Mike didn't seem the least bit concerned with Edwards feelings, and completely dismissed it as un important.

"It's still too dangerous. I would rather you not go Bell's, any of you for that matter."

"Edward, you're being ridiculous,"

Thank goodness for the bell, hearing them argue was sickening.

Mike ended up showing me to my next class, gym, all the while ranting about Edward.

"Honestly, the guy thinks he's above the rest of us. Him and his whole family," but I tuned him out. There was something strange about him and the rest of his family. But was it really my place to say that whatever it was, was wrong?

I really didn't like judging people before I got to know them well enough to make an educated assumption. But there was something there, something about them that was almost like a drug. I wanted to know more about them, but for now, I had to dress for gym and get ready for the rest of my first day of school.


	13. Meeting Jacob

Mike made sure I wasn't alone in gym class, invited me to be on his volleyball team and offered to walk me to my next class, even though we didn't have it together. True it was a little weird how attached he already was to me, but in a way, it was really sweet. At least I never had to worry about being alone at school.

My next few classes flew by; none of the teachers made me get up and introduce myself. I didn't see Edwards's brother again for the rest of the day, which I had to admit, was really disappointing.

Once the last bell rang, it was already starting to rain. I jogged to my vehicle, receiving several strange looks from younger and older students alike. But I didn't care. All I had was my sweatshirt, and that wasn't really the best type of clothing to wear in the rain.

I was so happy that this town was small that I knew my way around the simple roads. Unfortunately that happiness didn't last long when the engine started to smoke and slowly turn off.

In a panic, I braked and pulled the car off onto the shoulder of the road several miles from the school, deep in the middle of the woods. I remembered the mention of bears at lunch and was faced with the fear of having to exit the safety of the suburban.

Steadying my breath, and gathering all the courage I could, I pulled my hood over my head after tucking all my hair in, and went outside. I popped the hood, and though I had no idea what I was looking at, I still tried to figure out what was wrong. The smoke was still steaming up from somewhere under there, but where, I wasn't sure.

I was just about to call it quits when I heard an engine, slightly muffled by the rain, but it was defiantly approaching. I took the risk, stepped out to beside the suburban, and waited to see if they would stop.

I don't know if it was a good thing, or a bad curse, but they did. It was a tall, a very tall, very built guy on a motorcycle. He had to be crazy, riding around with no jacket on, jeans and a tight black t-shirt. It was freezing and the rain was starting to come down even harder.

He slowly took off his helmet with his back to me and placed it on his seat before turning. His skin was russet, and it nearly rippled over his muscles. He looked to be about twenty four, with a strong jaw, jet black hair that hung just over his eyes. When he got closer I could really see his eyes, and there was something so familiar, so comforting in them, that all fear that he had been a psycho ready to kill me had gone away completely.

"Having trouble?" His voice matched his body, deep, yet sweet.

"Yeah, it just stopped and started smoking."

"Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead; I really don't know anything about cars."

He started to walk around to look under the hood, his stature was almost intimidating, he had to be at least a foot taller than me, standing at what I would estimate to be around six foot seven.

"I'm Jacob by the way, Jacob Black." He held out his hand.

I gladly took it and found it to be surprisingly warm, something inside me defiantly didn't want to let go.

"Andrea Horn, and if you don't mind me saying, you're hands are really warm. You're not the least bit cold in all this rain?"

He shook his head, his dark hair swaying slightly, flinging water right off. "Nah, I tend to run warm."

He continued to talk, telling me about the different parts under the hood. What was weirder was I found myself paying attention. Normally I would have cared less about cars; they never held an interest to me before.

"Now this is sad." He muttered, reaching for different things.

"What?"

"After trying to be a show off and show you that I know what I'm doing, I can't figure out what's wrong."

"Well, these aren't exactly the best conditions to be working under."

"I hate to say it, but you might have to call a tow truck."

I sighed, wishing he wasn't right, but, "I guess you're right. Thanks anyways for trying to help, and for not being a crazy serial killer."

"Ha, I think I'll wait till after high school to start that career."

"Wait, you're saying you're still in high school?"

"You sound surprised."

"Well, yeah, I mean, you don't exactly look like you should be in school. College maybe, but high school."

"I guess I matured a bit faster than most guys my age. Do you need me to call that tow truck for you?"

"Yeah, that would be great, considering I don't know which road I'm on."

He took out a cell phone from his pocket and quietly started talking with the garage on the other end. After only a three minute conversation he hung up.

"They should be here in about twenty minutes."

"Oh, ok."

"If you want, I could wait with you, so you don't have to wait alone."

I smiled, "That's really sweet of you Jacob, I would like it if you would, but I don't want to keep you from anything."

"It wouldn't be. We should probably get in your car, don't want to get sick or anything."

I followed his example and climbed into the drivers seat as he scrunched into the passengers seat. Once in, he had to adjust it so his legs weren't hitting the dash board.

"So did you just move here?" He asked as soon as we were settled, not bothering to beat around the bush or start the conversation with small talk.

"Yeah, just day before yesterday actually."

"I didn't think I've seen you before. I would have defiantly remembered seeing your face around town."

"So why Forks of all places?"

"Not sure, my mother was the one who decided where we would move," something in my gut turned, making me uneasy, knowing full well that I was avoiding the whole truth. It hadn't done that all day, it just made me feel horrible for lying to him.

"Well, I'm glad she chose here, it'll be nice to have some interesting people around here."

"Aw, are all of your neighbors boring?"

"I've been living with the same people all my life, it's just nice to see a new pretty face," I looked away, out the side window at his comment and remained silent. "Andrea? Did I say something wrong?"

I tried to shake it off, and regain my confidence of before to turn back around to face him, "Most people just call me Andy."

"Ha, that's cute."

I was lucky to avoid the topic he seemed slightly interested in for the rest of the wait. The tow truck arrived in fifteen minutes, but it was time well spent getting to know an amazingly sweet guy. We talked about school, his motorcycle, the car he was building, my first day of classes, and some other random things. But what was really weird, and unlike anyone I had ever met, was that he looked at me when he was talking. No in glances, of just random areas of my face, but intensely looked into my eyes, or directly at my lips every time I was talking. He was defiantly an interesting character and I would have been delighted to see him again.

My luck came a little too soon, before we ever said goodbye.

The tow truck driver informed me that he wouldn't be ready until tomorrow morning, and was going to leave me stranded because he didn't want a child sitting around his office all day until my mother got off work.

"That's no problem, I can take you home."

"Are you sure Jacob? You're done a lot for me already."

"It's no trouble." We settled the plans and waited until my vehicle was being pulled out of view.

He got onto his bike, which still looked dangerous to me even though the rain was lightening up.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, just never ridden on a bike before, it's rather intimidating."

He chuckled, a deep laugh and handed me his extra helmet. "You'll be fine; I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Just climb on, and hang on as tight as you want to."

I nervously took the helmet and put it on as I swung my legs on either side of him. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around his hard large torso and pressed my chest against his back. More warmth, it wasn't just his hands, but where my knees were touching his legs, and my chest, every place I touched his body it was like he was almost on fire. I rested my head against his back and closed my eyes, despite the rock hard build of his body, he was oddly soft.

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

He kick started it and as it roared to life I clung on even tighter. His chest and stomach vibrated, I was sure because he was laughing. We were off within a matter of seconds, flying down the winding roads, so free and careless. To my own surprise, I was enjoying the ride. Honestly I didn't think I would. Under any other circumstances, I would have been worrying, too scared to open my eyes, but they were wide, watching the trees and other cars going in the opposite direction.

It was a high, and I felt so alive on the back of the bike.


	14. Face Filled Dreams

The ride home was really too short for my liking, but it was enjoyable. The sharp wind didn't bother me, and despite the lightly pouring rain, I stayed warm. It was an odd, yet comforting sensation that I got in the pit of my stomach when I was around him, and I was coming to like it.

"Thanks again Jacob."

"Your welcome and most people just call me Jake, among other things."

"Ha, I'll have to ask about that later."

I had just climbed off the bike when his cell phone started going off.

"Hello?"

"I know Sam."

"I know, don't worry, I'll be there."

He hung up and looked at me apologetically, taking back the extra helmet. "I really wish I didn't have to run off, but I forgot about something I had to do."

"That's ok, I understand."

He looked down, a small shy trait I had yet to see in him. "I really hope that we can talk again, I like talking to you Andy."

"I like talking to you too," I held out my hand, "give me your phone."

He handed it over and I quickly entered in my numbers and stored it under my nickname.

"Thanks, I'm defiantly going to call you."

"I believe you. Take care Jake, and thanks, for everything."

"Sure sure."

With one last smile, he put his helmet back on and was off, quicker than before. I knew he was showing off, it was too obvious for his own good. I waited until he was out of sight before entering the warmth of the small cabin.

There were still several boxes stacked in the living room and the open kitchen. I decided to please my mother, so after putting all my stuff back in my room I started unpacking dishes, books, and other random objects my mother collected.

The work flew by once I placed a cd in the small boom box on the kitchen counter. Hours of unpacking, and smashing empty boxes down to be recycled only seemed to take minutes.

Before I knew it, darkness had settled around the house and it was nearing time for my mother to be home. I planned to stay awake and wait for her, but a life time of un planned things taught me not to expect them to always turn out the way I wanted them too.

After settling down in my bed with a warm cup of hot coco and The Great Gatsby I eventually drifted off to sleep.

"Come on out baby, come out and play Andy." His voice mocked me, pretending to not know where I was hiding in fear. But knowing that didn't make me move, he would have found me eventually, and it would only make things worse the longer it took. So I stayed put, crammed under my bed, small fingers over my mouth, shaking and crying.

His friends had come over tonight as well; I saw all their feet around the ends of the bed as they continued to pretend to search for me. The anticipation of the find was killing me more than it was them.

One by one, they all surrounded the bed. They must have been able to hear my heart beat over the music from down stairs; it was the loudest thing in my ears. Slowly they started to bend down, pulling back the blankets and smiling at their find. My whole body started to shake out of my control. Right where my face was, only inches away, was right where his face appeared. He was so happy with what he knew was going to happen, his whole face portrayed that. I slid back as far as I could against the junk under my bed, but I couldn't get any further.

"Time to play princess." His large pale hands reached out for my arms, pulling my kicking form out.

"You know if you keep up this bad behavior it will just make things worse and you'll have to sit in time out with one of my friends."

I gulped and stopped struggling. I had only ever been sent into time out one time in my whole six years, and the pain from that was enough to keep me from ever ending up there again.

He placed me gently on the bed as they all surrounded it, taking turns, talking, making weird noises. It was all I could do not to scream and keep my tears in.


	15. Ignorant Pain

The faces blended together, even in my waking state. It was all I could do to keep from vomiting over the side of my bed. I clutched my stomach, the pain, the nauseating feeling and the headaches were all returning at once. Sweat had formed on my forehead and neck, sticking my hair to my skin.

It was late in the morning when I finally rose out of bed. Today was the day we were going down to La Push, and I couldn't have felt worse. No amount of shower time and make up was going to fix the horrible bags under my eyes, or how I felt so weak.

The warm water, the cover up, the eyeliner, the five cups of coffee, nothing made me feel human again. All I could think about was getting out of the house and going to the beach. I wished I could have made myself look a bit more presentable, but I wasn't sure what the proper dress attire was for the beach.

I doubted that we were going to go swimming, so I didn't need to worry about a swim suit. I settled for light jeans and a black long sleeve shirt with my old pair of work boots, or hiking boots, I wasn't sure what to call them. I put most of my hair up in a French braid and tied it off at the base of my neck, letting the rest fall free.

Feeling a little better now that I was dressed, I braved my mother in the kitchen.

"Morning honey, did you sleep well."

I avoided the question, "Did the garage call you?"

"Yeah, Eddie called the store last night. It's amazing how quickly new travels in this town. Mrs. Newton is going to be here in a few minutes to pick me up for work, and since it's on the way, we can just drop you off to get it. What are you all dressed up for?"

"I'm not dressed up mom."

"You're not in your pajama's, and during the weekend for a teenager, that's considered dressed up."

"Some kids from school inviting me to go up to the reservation with them this afternoon, and I thought I would give it a try."

"Oh honey that's wonderful, I'm so glad you're starting to make new friends."

"Thanks mom, I'm going to go get my bag together, I'll be done when Mrs. Newton gets here."

"Ok, hurry though, she should be here soon."

I did as she requested, shoving my wallet, phone, key's and book four of Death Note into my black messenger bag. By the time I closed my bedroom door behind me, Mrs. Newton and my mother were waiting patiently in her mini van.

For fifteen minutes, I endured listening to the hum of the two women's voices as I struggled to get back out of my head. It was difficult, the thoughts, the memories, the pain from those nights, kept pulling me back.

Luckily the timing had been perfect from when they dropped me off to the time that I had to meet the rest of the people at the school. Mike was already there, as was Bella, and the others.

"Glad to see you made it Andy," Mike greeted me cheerfully, jumping down off the hood of Bella's truck.

"I'm actually surprised to see you here Bella," I shoved my keys back into my bad and slung it across my chest as I joined their small group.

"There was no way I was going to miss this."

"Hey Andy, do you mind driving? None of us have a vehicle with enough room for everyone," Mike had already started looking at the suburban with Eric, like they were sizing it up, typical male behavior.

"No, I don't mind, is this everyone?"

"Now it is," He pointed over my shoulder where Angelina and Jennifer were pulling up. "Time to load up!" Everyone laughed at Mike and began to pile into my suburban. Mike of course claimed shot gun considering I had no idea where we were going, and I knew everyone was whispering about it in the back seats. I was able to fit everyone in, Mike, myself, Bella, Eric, Lauren, Angelina, and Jennifer, and not a single person was uncomfortable.

I was surprised to find that the reservation was just a few miles past my house, in the direction that Jacob had driven off in the other day.

I parked near the road that ended where the path to the beach began. Mike and Eric grabbed all the stuff out of the back that they claimed we were going to need for later, and all the girls left their bags in the suburban along with mine. I put my keys in my back pocket and walked with Bella down to the shoreline.

It was beautiful. The sand was a cream/off white color, and reflected perfectly against the waves. There was a chill in the air coming from them, but Mike and Eric were already setting up for the bonfire. The shore seemed to go on for miles in each direction, twisting and turning underneath the cliffs. There was no one else on the beach except for a group of three boys down near the water, so privacy wasn't going to be a big problem.

"Hey Andy," Bella nudged me with her elbow, "one of my other friends is here I think you should meet." She started walking over to where the three boys were and called for their attention. "Jacob, come here, I want you to meet someone!" The tallest of the boys turned around and looked back at us, no surprise there, it was Jacob Black from yesterday.

"Hey Bella, hey Andy, so where's the person you wanted me to meet." I had to struggle to hold in a laugh at the look on Bella's face.

"You two know each other."

"Yeah Bell's, we met yesterday. Andy was having some car trouble and I helped her out."

"He's a regular night in shining armor."

I couldn't tell because how his hair was dangling in his face, but I could have sworn he started blushing.

"Anyways, do you, Quill and Embry want to join us?" She seemed to get over her embarrassment quickly, but somehow the amusement Jacob got from this told me he was never going to let the poor girl forget about it.

"What are you guys planning to do?"

"Just a little bit of hiking, maybe a bonfire and some stories later."

"Sure, sounds like a blast. Let me go drag them out of the water and we'll be there."

We waited on him to get his friends out of the water, silently laughing at their strange behavior.

"Are we going cliff diving?" Yelled one of them from out in the water.

"No Quill! We're going hiking!"

"Why?"

"Because I said so!"

"No seriously, why?"

"Jake who is that on the shore with you?"

"Bella and Andrea!" That seemed to be a good enough reason for both boys to get out of the water. It was weird, both of them were almost as tall as Jacob, though one was a bit more stockier and better developed than the thinner one. All were just as intimidating in size.

When they were out they looked me over, and started making comments to Jacob that I couldn't understand.

"You guys better leave her alone or you'll be sleeping at the bottom of the ocean," Jacob smacked his two friends in the back of the head as they moved away and started walking with Bella back to the small group waiting to go hiking.

"What was that about?" I asked Jacob as we started walking back behind them.

"They're just being idiots."

"Do they not like me or something?" I was nervous to ask, but I wasn't sure if the comments they made to him were good or bad, and knowing me, I was leaning towards the bad.

"What? No, they like you fine, maybe a little too fine." He grumbled the last part and went silent as we got back to the rest of the group. I dismissed his behavior as too much testosterone in the group.

"So, is everyone ready to go hiking?" Asked Mike enthusiastically, putting himself in charge of the small group.

Everyone but Lauren, Eric and Jennifer agreed to go, leaving just myself, Jacob, Bella, Quill, Embry, Mike and Angelina.


	16. Big Bad Bear

Everyone seemed to divide off into smaller groups as we walked through the woods. Mike was leading the way, always trying to talk to me as a way to keep me with him, and Jacob was never to far from where I was, so the three of us ended up leading. Bella and Quill trailed behind us a little ways, and slowly behind them was Angelina and Embry.

"Do you really think this is a smart idea Mike?" I asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled between the two guys.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yesterday you said a bunch of hikers saw some bears, I just started thinking about that."

"Don't worry about it Andy, I live around here and have yet to see a bear," Jacob said from directly behind me, I was stuck in between the two.

"There are too. Hikers come in the store all the time and say they've seen huge bears."

"Trust me Newton; there are worse things out in these woods than just bears. You might want to remember that for the next time."

My curiosity immediately perked up and I shot a half curious half terrified look at Jacob. "What do you mean things worse than bears?"

He opened his mouth, and I continued to look at him and try to walk at the same time. But just as he was about to say something, I tripped over my own two feet and started falling backwards before a warm hand grabbed onto my arm.

Within seconds he pulled me back up to my feet with amazing ease. He wasn't affected at all by any of my weight or my tendency to stumble again after falling the first time.

"Thank you."

"Sure sure," chuckling to himself he turned me around and gently pressed a hand to my back, urging me to keep moving forward. Even through my shirt I could feel how warm he was, it was so comforting that I literally frowned when I pulled his hand away as we continued on to catch up with Mike.

I couldn't help but let Jacobs words affect how I viewed the forest for the rest of the hike. The once sunny, open woods, now filled closed off, darker, more sinister. Every noise would cause me to jump slightly. It was easier to keep up with the conversation; Mike talked mostly, about pretty much everything. He kept trying to redeem himself after Jacob helped me when I fell, and though it was a nice effort, it was in vein. His ramblings about hiking equipment and management bored me and just couldn't hold my interest.

Several times I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing at the low comments Jacob kept making under his breath. I was glad Mike couldn't hear them; it defiantly would have ruined the nice trip he planned.

We were a good distance ahead of the others, but that didn't stop us from slowing down, Mike was determined for us to reach his destination first. The farther we got into the woods, the more difficult it was becoming to see the sky overhead.

Suddenly, as if the forest was holding its breath, everything went quiet. Mike stopped, he must have sensed something too, but it was Jacob that took action. He grabbed my wrist to keep me from moving and took a step closer to me. Then we heard it, footsteps, of something big and heavy coming from behind the undergrowth only yards away.

"Jacob, what is it?" My voice was barely more than a whisper, but he heard me.

"A bear, stay still and don't move," He shifted again to face where the noise was coming from, never removing his hand from my arm. I tried to do what he said, but the fact that there was a real bear that close made me start to shake. Sure I loved the woods and went in them as often as I could, but I never imagined actually coming across a bear during my outings.

"It's not a bear," Mike moved closer towards the bushes, but immediately jumped back, landing on the ground and Jacobs feet.

Coming through the thick green was a massive black bear on its hind legs, roaring at us like intruders. My free hand that wasn't already in Jacobs grasped instinctively grabbed onto the wrist of the hand that was holding onto mine. He was perfectly calm, his body warm and solid and moved with one fluid motion almost directly in front of me.

Mike crawled like a coward behind me as quickly as he could to get away from it while Jacob seemed to have a face off with it. Every second that passed my heart seemed to pound harder and faster, there was no way a man could defeat a beast that huge, not even if he was almost seven feet tall.

Without warning, the bear lowered herself and darted off into the woods like a dog with its tail between its legs. It was a miracle, and impossible miracle.


	17. Jacob vs Bear

_I heard it behind us, checking us out, if we were a meal or something uninteresting. I made sure to keep myself closer to Andrea, not known to her of course; I didn't want to freak her out. I had to focus, and since it was concerning her safety, it wasn't that hard to do. Every time I watched her take a step, move her hips, or touch something with her hands, my heart beat an extra skip. She was addicting and she didn't even know it. Newton wasn't lying when he said there were bears out in these woods, but being this close to the reservation and the trails was something they rarely did. They normally avoided humans; it was in their nature to be afraid of the men with guns. _

_But this one was different; there was something off with it. I couldn't tell from this distance, but I prayed it wouldn't come close enough for anyone to find out. I of course wasn't afraid of a simple bear, but it's not like I could phase in front of Newton, let alone Andy. If anything would freak her out and make her want to stay away from me, it would be that. _

_That's when I heard it approaching us from the side. I reached out and grabbed her wrist, the safest place she could be was away from the Mike kid and next to me._

"_Jacob what is it?" She was scared, it was plain in her voice in the way it shook. _

"_A bear, stay still and don't move." I listened intensely on what it was doing, it was moving in front of us, behind the undergrowth next to the trail. _

"_It's not a bear," I was prepared to grab Newton if he needed it, but his own spooked body saved him. He crumbled, and if it were under any other circumstances, I would have laughed. _

_And there she was, tall, proud, and hungry. I shielded Andrea from it completely after she grabbed onto my wrist. Her touch was all it took to provoke the fight that was building up inside me, but I couldn't. Andy was too close now, and if I was forced to phase, I would hurt her accidentally. If that happened I could never forgive myself. _

_So I did the only thing I could think of. I locked my eyes with hers even though she was several inches taller than me. Getting all her attention on me, I growled, so low that neither Andy nor Newton could hear, but the bear did, and she knew what I was, she knew not to mess with me. _

_After a few moments of the sound rumbling from my throat in her direction she scurried away. Newton was finally back up on his feet with only a few scratches on his palm from the fall and Andy was still in shock. I wasn't about to let go of her until I was sure she was ok. From the look on her face, it was obvious she had never encountered something like that in her life._

"_Andy? Are you ok?" I turned, but kept my hand on her, it seemed to calm her slightly since she was shaking, her hands were the most stable part of her body._

"_How did you do that?" She had to tilt her head back slightly to look up at me since I was standing so close. I wanted nothing more than to tell her everything right there, what I was, what I had done to her, and what it all meant. If Newton wasn't there I probably would have, and for once during this whole hike, I was glad her was. She needed to know me more, know more about me, get comfortable around me, I didn't need to scare her off now._

"_What can I say? I can be rather intimidating." She didn't buy it and it showed in her eyes, but she didn't press the subject after Mike suggested we head back down the trail to find the others and start the bonfire._

_My heart sank into the pit of my stomach when we started walking and she removed her hand from my wrist, I in turn reluctantly dropped hers as well. It was odd, her skin was always slightly cold no matter how warm it was outside, but it was a soothing cold, not freezing. _


	18. Fire

"How far did you guys go?" Asked Quill once we caught up with the remainder of the group near the end of the trail.

"Only about three miles up, then we came across a bear," Mike's enthusiasm was lost and had been since the bear. The hike back down was quiet between all three of us. Jacob tried several times to bring up topics of conversation, but I felt bad for Mike and my heart just wasn't in it.

"A bear! Are you guys ok?" Jennifer nearly burst a blood vessel rushing over and embracing me and Mike in a hug at the same time. She, Lauren and Eric had bet us where the trail began to help gather some fire wood.

"Yeah, we're fine, Jacob was able to get rid of it," I was proud of him, extremely thankful, and it showed.

Quill and Embry smirked at Jacob and went over to pat him on the back.

"Good boy Jake," said Embry.

"Yeah man, way to be a knight in shinning armor," Quill was much harsher with the comments. It was amazing what these three best friends could throw at each other.

"How about that bonfire now that it's starting to get colder out," of course it was Mike, he hated that Jacob was getting all the attention. We all helped him gather up the last of the fire wood and make a nice size pile where Eric and Jennifer had placed the stone circle.

The guys got some larger logs for everyone to sit on while Angelina and Bella went to retrieve the cooler out of the suburban. The sun had yet to go down yet, but it was getting there, casting a beautiful glow against the water. I couldn't help but let myself be captivated by it. So why they were starting the fire, I found myself wandering closer to the beach until my bare feet were close to the waters edge.

It was amazing, the view, and this place, so different than what I had expected it to be. The people defiantly weren't mountain hicks that my mother feared lived in these mountains. Despite the near death experience with the bear, I've never felt happier after moving to a new place. It was almost enough to make me forget about why we moved here to begin with.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Asked a familiar husky voice from behind me.

I wrapped my arms around myself and nodded my head in agreement, "Defiantly don't see much of this in the cities."

"It's sad, not many people slow down with their lives to stop and appreciate things as simple and as breath taking as a sunset."

"You're right."

"I wish I wasn't. I think if more people enjoyed things like this there would be a lot less hate in the world."

"I agree, no way someone could hate a sight as magnificent as this."

A breeze started sweeping in from the ocean and I shivered, unable to control it. Jacob noticed it though.

"Come on, lets get you warm near the fire." He slowly and nervously wrapped an arm around my shoulder to start leading me back to the group, and I didn't move away. He was so tall that his arm couldn't drape over my shoulders completely, but his hand fit over the whole of my right shoulder. His arm slanted at an angle across the back of my neck, gently, and hesitantly holding me against his warm body.

"Are you sure you're not sick Jake?"

"No, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You're just really warm."

"I told you, I don't get cold easily and I tend to run warm."

"I know, I just didn't think it was that literal," it was weird, but there was an odd comforting feeling about him, something that made my stomach do flip flops and my cheeks burn. There was no other feeling in the world than his hand on me, even if it was over a shirt. There was just something about him in general, something that made me feel things that confused me more than Calculus.

He dropped his arm as we sat down with the others around the fire, Mike immediately sitting on my other side between myself and Lauren. She was the only one out of the group who seemed to have a problem with me, so I didn't mind that he was being pushy.

The fire wasn't too big, was it wasn't a tiny campfire either. In the center where the wood was all propped up in the shape of a cone, the flames reached at least six feet. There was a big difference between this warmth and the one I was missing. I tried to force myself not to miss it, but it was a hard thing to dismiss once the idea was in my head.

"So, does anyone know any scary stories?" Asked Embry from the other side of the fire where he was sharing a log with Quill and Bella.

"I know some Urban Legends," said Mike.

"Nah, everyone knows those, they get old really quick," Said Eric who was sitting with Angelina and Jennifer.

"No they don't, there are plenty of people that think they're scary," argued Mike.

"Name one person, other than yourself, that has ever been scared by one."

"My sister."

"Your sister is seven Mike."

I couldn't help but feel bad for Mike as he looked down at his hands, accepting defeat. But my pity was short lived after Jacob spoke up.

"I know some stories that are from around here, about monsters and things that go bump in the night."

His words caught everyone's attention, and no one missed a second of his story as he dived in.


	19. Campfire Stories

_What was I thinking?_

_Easy answer… I wasn't. I opened my mouth and after all the secrecy, after all the protection, I used my own tribes legends to make up some Hollywood type horror stories about all the monsters that really did roam these woods. No one except Bella of course knew the truth behind why I chose the monsters I did. I didn't have a plot in mind, or a storyline, or anything as I continued letting my mouth do the talking without any consent from my brain. _

_Bella, Quill and Embry all shot me uneasy looks, but everyone else could tell I was just fooling around. My two closest friends of course would know the truth when we phased, they would know that I was trying to hint to Andrea about everything she would eventually need to know. _

_I made up something about a couple getting lost in the woods and the guy being a monster, tricking the girl, using her, and killing her. Jennifer and Angelina were the only ones who seemed genuinely scared considering all the stories floating around about the woods already. Angelina was huddled against Eric's slim body and I wasn't ashamed to admit that I was envious. She was so close, and smelled so good, but I couldn't do anything about it, not yet. _

_Too soon for my liking I finished my story and immediately asked, "So, anyone up for another hike?" _

"_Are you crazy?" Lauren was sitting on the sand, leaning against Mike's legs and hugging her sweatshirt around her own legs. "Besides, I think it's time we get going, it's getting late." _

_I wanted to toss the girl into the fire for suggesting they all leave. Sure I couldn't tell Andy my secrets, but I felt less anxious when she was actually near me, I didn't have to worry as much, I knew she would be safe. _

"_I think Lauren is right," said Newton, getting up and starting to gather all the trash from the snacks everyone had. _

_Eric was already walking Angelina back to the road after Andy gave him her keys so they could get in and wait. She seemed reluctant to leave, whether because of the company of the fact she seemed to be in love with the beach, I couldn't tell._

_Quill and Embry promised to take care of the fire so they could have a bit of light walking back down the beach, but Bella asked to speak to me before she left, leaving Andy alone with my two friends. _

_We walked a little ways down the beach, just far enough so the others couldn't hear. _

"_Something wrong Bells?"_

"_I was just about to ask you the same thing Jake."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You've been acting weird tonight, weirder than usual. Why have you been staring at Andy?"_

"_Well, it's complicated."_

"_Complicated how Jacob? She's new here, I don't want anyone, you or Edward, or anyone else freaking her out with this supernatural stuff until she at least gets used to this crazy town."_

"_I didn't do it intentionally Bella."_

"_Do what? Jacob you didn't, please tell me you didn't?"_

"_It's not like I could control it Bella, it kind of just happened. It shocked me just as much as you."_

_She was quiet for a minute, taking it in. I knew she didn't expect it to happen, not this soon at least, not with only a few months of this life style change being under my belt. "You're sure?"_

"_Trust me, I've never been more sure of anything."_

"_Well, what are you going to do about it?"_

"_I don't know yet. It's not like I can walk up to her, tell her she's my soul mate and that I'm a monster. I don't think she would take that very well."_

"_Well, she seems to like you enough, and I knew you at least liked her the way you haven't been able to stop watching her, but I never knew you went ahead and imprinted on the new girl. Did it happen tonight?"_

"_No, a few nights ago I was on patrol and came across her in the woods."_

"_She saw you as a werewolf?!?"_

"_Yes, but don't worry, I didn't scare her, she didn't seem to mind it so much either." I smiled to myself, remembering how she had touched me that night, stroking my hair, what an amazing thing that was. _

"_You need to tell her."_

"_I know."_

"_I knew something was up with you, plus Quill and Embry told me you've been acting strange these past few days."_

"_So now you know."_

"_Now I do. I guess I'd better go, I need to call Edward and think about some way to help you tell her this news."_

"_You're going to help me?"_

"_Of course, if anyone has any experience in dealing with weird shocking news, it's me."_

"_Thanks Bells."_

"_No problem, now come on." She gently started pulling my arm so that I followed her back to the fire._

"_Ready to go?" Andy asked her as we returned, she was still standing close to the fire, cold from the chilly night air and not having a coat._

"_Yeah, I think so." Bella gave me a quick hug before doing the same for Quill and Embry, talking to them for a minute, leaving me alone with Andrea._

"_Cold?" Stupid question, but it was the only thing I could think of. Mentally, I wanted to punch myself. _

"_A bit, I forgot my coat. I didn't know it could get this cold here this early."_

"_I would offer you mine, but I didn't bring one either." She laughed, hugging her arms even tighter around herself, I had a strong desire to wrap her in my own, not only for personal reasons, but because I knew then that without a doubt she would be warm. _

"_Well, I guess we'd better go before Mike and Lauren throw a fit or something."_

_My insides screamed "no!" but I just nodded, fighting myself on what to do. She seemed hesitant to leave as well._

"_I'm really glad I got to see you again, and it was nice meeting your friends."_

"_Sorry if they gave you any trouble."_

"_They didn't. They were just telling me about school, their girlfriends," I scoffed, "what?"_

"_Nothing, I'm just still getting used to the idea of my idiot friends having girlfriends." Technically they weren't their girlfriends, they were their imprints, but they couldn't talk about things like that around her, not yet. "Well, I hope to see you around."_

"_You have my number, just call whenever you want to hang out, or talk."_

"_You sure?"_

"_I wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't want you to call me." She had no idea how much this made me smile on the inside and the outside. Without even second thinking it, I slowly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. It was perfect in every way once she un wrapped her arms from around herself and placed them around my waste, resting her head on my chest. She was the perfect height, the perfect size; everything about her was perfect in the way she fit so well against me. I wanted to keep her there, to spend the night with her there, talking, getting to know the person that captured my heart, but I knew I had to let go._

_When I did, she smiled back up me awkwardly, made she just wasn't used to much contact. But she a pretty girl, she's had to have at least a few boyfriends, or at least several guy friends, but her eyes said differently. They were confused, I wondered if she had ever been properly held, or if she was just in general confused._

"_Bye Jacob."_

"_Good night Andy." _

_She joined Bella at the beginning of the path, her hair swaying lightly in the wind as she walked, and eventually was out of sight up on the road. I groaned to Quill and Embry as they started putting out the fire._

"_What's up man?"_

"_I have duty tonight Quill, that's what's up."_

"_Twelve hour shift?"_

"_Starting in half an hour."_

"_Sam makes these rules for a reason," I glared at Embry; he was always on our Alpha's side. They understood my pain; they were able to watch over their imprints all the time._

"_Don't worry so much, nothing is going to happen to her while you're on duty." Quill was at least sympathetic with me as we walked back to our houses. It was going to be a long night and an even longer weekend. _


	20. Bitter

I shivered on the way back up the path, it was cool and the breeze was picking up, chilly the air even more. But my body was shaking, not only due to the cold, but what was going on inside of it. There was a feeling, a strong undeniably weird feeling coming from the pit of my stomach, worse than butterflies.

The confliction I felt was driving my brain crazy. I had sworn to myself a long time ago to stay far away from all things male, at least in that way. But here, this town, this boy, something about it felt so right. My mind was the only logical thing left in my body, screaming at me, telling me to stop it here before it got to far and something terrible happen. But I didn't listen to it like I normally did. There was something different about the look in his eyes, it was unlike any I had ever seen.

I was surprised at my own actions, letting him touch me like that; it was out of character for me. And though I'm sure he could tell I tensed every time he was near me, I still felt at ease.

Even with him around I felt more at ease around guys like Mike and Eric. Sure Mike was a tad possessive, and was under some impression that I liked him, but after seeing him interact with other females, it was plain to me that it was just his personality. Ever Eric, quiet, thoughtful Eric didn't scare me as much as his anti social personality should have.

Jacob had awakened something inside me, something dangerous and overwhelming; I just wish he was aware of that. Knowing my luck, I was about to get my hopes up for someone who probably thought I was weird, or unattractive, or damaged goods. There is no way a guy like that, perfect in every flawed way, could ever think like that about a girl like me.

"Andy, are you ok?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just cold," I quickly pulled myself from my thoughts about putting the past behind and moving on to the best of my abilities to drive everyone home.

"I can't believe those Quilette boys were there," grumbled Mike, folding his arms against his flat chest like a small child.

"I enjoyed their company, they made the outing more interesting, don't you think Andy?" Bella directed her question at me in a quiet voice with a tone about it. I couldn't place what she was getting at, but I did agree.

"Yeah, they were pretty interesting characters."

"But what are they on? I saw them all only a few months ago and they were still tiny," Mike continued his grumbling.

"It's called working out Mike, something I'm sure you haven't heard of yet," Lauren matched Mike's bitter mood, setting the stage for a silent ride back to the parking lot.


	21. Talk of Dresses

"Thanks for inviting me Mike, I had fun," I waved goodbye to him as he slumped out of the suburban along with everyone else to go to his own car.

He mumbled something I couldn't hear, and though I understood why he was behaving like that, it still hurt my feelings that he wouldn't even look at me when he was talking. I was about to start the engine back up when I noticed someone still sitting in the middle of the back seat.

I felt my heart start pumping faster when I saw her in the mirror, scaring the life out of me.

"Gosh Bella you scared me half to death."

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to talk to you without the others."

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"Just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me and Edward to Port Angeles tomorrow?"

"Um, sure, what's the occasion?"

"Well, Edward is insisting on attending the Homecoming dance, and we're going dress shopping, I thought you might like to as well."

"I would love to, but I don't think I'm going to go."

"I wouldn't if I had a choice, but Edward is just weird about school dances. Why don't you want to?"

"Well," I looked down kind of embarrassed, "I've never really been to a dance before." It was half the truth, the other half was having a date, which was something else I had never done before. I never really trusted many guys after my mom and I started moving.

"I'm not saying it's going to be fun, but it will be a new experience."

"Bella, even if I wanted to go, and I'm not saying that I do, I would be a third wheel, no one has asked me to the dance."

"I think Mike was going to ask you tonight."

"Why didn't he?"

"Andy are you blind?"

"What are you talking about?" I was seriously confused, no joke, and no playing around.

"He was put off by the way Jacob was looking at you, and how you paid more attention to a sophomore than him."

"Wait, Jacobs a sophomore?"

"Yes Andy, but you're missing the point."

"Sorry, he just doesn't look or act like he's a year younger than us."

"Jacob can be very mature for his age, physically, mentally and emotionally."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, my heart both flew and sunk at the same time, causing a huge lump to form in my throat. "What are you saying Bella?"

"I'm saying, Jacob is my best friend, and I can see something there."

"He's barely known me two days."

"So have I."

"Yeah but,"

"No buts. I know him very well, probably better than most of his other friends. I'm not telling you what to do by any means, just that there could be something great there for you, so give him a chance."

"You want me to ask him to the dance don't you?" I cringed inwardly at the idea of setting myself up like that, ever getting close to a guy like that. Sure it was something I dreamed of, but I knew it was something I could never do. I learned over time that guys wanted one thing and one thing alone, and that was something I couldn't offer.

"No, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to but I see you as a friend, and he's a good friend, and I just want both of you to be happy." She seemed to have a hard time finding her words, like there was something she was hiding from me, but I let it go after promising to go look at dresses with her tomorrow.

On the way home I couldn't get the thought of my head about the possibility of Jacob feeling anything for me. I tried lying to myself, saying that it was the last thing I wanted to think about. But I was always curious about everything that came along with it.

It's not like I never had guys ask me out, or hit on me, it happened several times, I just never felt anything towards them. Even if I did feel the tiniest bit of attraction, I knew I could never give them anything. My heart was cold, even to myself. I always believed that I could never let anyone in, because I knew no guy could be that patient with me.

I was scared more than anything of the way I let my guard down around him, a guy I had barely known a few days. The way my heart just started to melt, and it wasn't just due to the physical attraction or the temperature of his skin.

For a while, I cried myself to sleep, believing and dreading that I would be alone for the rest of my life.


	22. Meet Alice

The next morning I woke to a tight face and an empty house. My mother had to work even though it was a Sunday. Last night I had told Bella where I lived so she and Edward could pick me up before lunch. She also informed me that someone else was going to be coming along, but I didn't know them so I didn't need to worry about it.

I showered and dressed, taking my time, even though I had no idea what the time was. I picked out an outfit that was more fitting to my style.

One of my plain, simple peasant skirts, and a turquoise top,

Along with a pair of simple silver ballerina flat shoes.

It was a bit nicer than what I had been wearing during school and hiking, but I really wasn't going to dress like this when I knew I was going to be doing outdoorsy stuff.

I slumped down on the sofa after blow drying my thick straight hair and leaving it down, not having the energy to bother with it today. In truth it was the only thing I really loved about myself. My long hair always made me feel prettier than I was, felt more like a girl, and like I deserved to dress the way I did.

I skipped breakfast, never having thought it was the most important meal of the day. Dinner was the only meal I couldn't go without. I had just started playing with a small fringe on my skirt when I heard a car pull up. The motor wasn't loud, so it defiantly wasn't Bella's truck. I peeked out from behind the curtains before going to the door, a precautionary habit I developed a long time ago. Sitting in the middle of the empty driveway was a silver Volvo.

At first my breath caught, and my heart started racing up. I couldn't see who was inside the car, the windows were slightly tinted. The anticipation of waiting for whoever it was to exit was killing me.

It couldn't be him, he's never found us this fast, and the detectives cars were always much more superior than just a Volvo. I prepared a plan in my head, if it was a guy in a dark suit, I would simply lock the door and escape out my bedroom window and down the bank, most likely head towards the small clearing I found several nights ago. That would be a good plan.

Finally, once both doors open and two familiar faces stepped out, I let out a long needed sigh of relief. Bell and Edward were standing in front of the car, but Edward didn't come any further than that. It was only Bella that came up to the porch to meet me once I locked the door and shifted my purse onto my other arm.

"Are you ok Andy? You seem a bit jumpy," Bella rubbed my shoulder in a friendly manner as we walked back to the car. Edward didn't say anything, but his expression changed from annoyed to sympathetic as he held open the door for me behind the drivers' side.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I sat down and someone else started talking from directly beside me.

"Hi! I'm Alice, Edwards's sister." A short, thin, pixie girl was chirping from the seat behind Bella, nearly bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement.

"Hi, I'm,"

"Andy, I know."

I raised my eyebrows in question, "What? Are you psychic or something?"

She looked shocked, but shook her head; no one even made an attempt to laugh at my lame joke. I settled for biting my lip and sinking back further into my seat, resting my hands on my lap. The tension in the car was so thick it could have been cut with a knife, or so to speak.

Everyone remained quiet on the car ride all the way into the city; it was irritating and uncomfortable not being able to talk with the fear of how they would react again. Also, not having any distractions, my thoughts went they way they normally did when it was silent. Worry filled every corner of my head.

I wasn't sure if I was fully on board with this whole dance idea. I didn't know what to expect, what was considered the proper dress attire for girls my age at them, or if it was even ok to go alone. My mind flickered back to a certain tall male of Indian heritage, but it made my face burn just thinking about it.

I would admit to myself that it would be fun, having a date, but the complications that would defiantly arise weren't worth it. I didn't want anyone to have to suffer through my issues just to try and make me happy. It wouldn't be fair to them and especially not to a great guy like that.


	23. The Perfect Dress

Finally, after what seemed like hours, we were in the dead center of the city, driving around, looking for nice dress shops.

"What type of style do you like Andy?" Asked Alice who had deemed herself fashion expert on this trip.

"Well, I wear a lot of vintage clothing; I've never looked for a dress though."

"Well, now is the perfect time to look. Turn left Edward, I know of the perfect store right down this road."

The store Alice had been pointing out was in between a tattoo parlor, with tacky neon flashing lights, and a nail salon, where she hinted we were going to go after getting the dresses. Inside it was huge. The first half, on the lower level was full of nothing but casual dresses, sun dresses, and everything in between. Leading up to the second level was a small flight of stairs on either side. There were what seemed to be endless rows of prom dresses, fancy and simple alike. And in the back of both levels were the donated dresses, and the weird ones that seemed to always be passed over.

Alice refused to let Edward come into the shop with us and requested that he go buy a new tux down the street. She was also insisting that both Bella and myself needed her help to find the perfect dress, especially after finding out that I had never been to a dance. Helping me find one was fine with me, as long as she didn't try prying into why I had never been to one.

Our first mission was to find one for Bella. Alice declared that blue was her color and that nothing else would do. So we spent about half an hour looking through all the fancy prom dresses trying to find her perfect one.

"I'm so glad you decided to come Andy," said Bella as we started on a new row across from Alice.

"I am too. This isn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"Oh it's torture and you know it. I think it is at least."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to blame Edward for that."

"Of course I am. It took him weeks to get me to agree to this."

"I honestly can't tell if that's creepy or controlling."

"Neither, it's just him being him. He's sweet, wants me to experience things."

"I guess that's a good reason."

"So, have you thought about asking anyone?"

I bit my tongue for a second, taken back slightly at the random question.

"Um, no, haven't really thought about it." It was a lie, but she didn't know it.

"Well, if not, you're more than welcome to come with Edward and I."

"Thanks Bella."

"Bella, here, try this on!" Alice danced out of no where with a small stack of different shades of blue dangling from her arms, ushering Bella to the dressing room.

"Fine Alice, but I am picking out which one." The pixie frowned slightly, but agreed to leave her alone while she tried them on, settling for dragging me back to the back of the store.

"While you two were chatting I actually got to look back here and found something perfect for you. Ah, here it is." She practically skipped to the spot where she had hung the dress and turned me around to head straight back to the dressing rooms. "You're going to love it, I promise."

"You sound so sure of it."

She shrugged, "What can I say, I just get a feeling about things sometimes."

I eyed her, not really sure what to say to that, but took the dress from her and tried it on anyways. It was beautiful, and exactly my style. How Alice could possibly guess what I would ever dream of wearing was completely out of range of my guessing abilities.

I could help but run my hands over it as I watched myself in the mirror. Every time I imagined myself in a dress, I never actually thought it could possibly look decent, let alone good. The entire dress was a tan cream color, with thin straps leading down to a form fitting top. The bottum was slightly poofy and fell a few inches below my knees.

"Do you have it on yet Andy?"

"Yes, you can come in."

She opened the door and walked in with Bella, who was wearing the dress she chose. It was light blue, form fitting, cutting off at the knees with off the shoulder thick straps.

"It looks amazing."

"So does yours Bella. Alice, you certainly have a calling for fashion." She just smiled at both of us before holding up two pairs of heels in her hands. Bella about flipped out on her, refusing to wear something she claimed she was going to break her neck in. But I took mine without a second thought. I hated the idea of heels, I was already taller than most people I knew, and it made me feel weird adding onto that height.

But I wasn't taller than Jacob. I frowned again, doubting the possibilities that I could have a date to the dance, even with Bella's positive words.

Bella eventually gave in as Alice continued to give her the heels until we were at the check out. We got lucky, the shop wasn't terribly expensive, but it defiantly wasn't cheep. We checked out and grabbed our bags, taking our time walking out of the store and down the sidewalk.

"I think that's your quickest shopping trip yet Alice," said Edward from where he was leaning against the parked car several spots down from the store.

She just shrugged again before taking our bags and putting them in the back. Edward was quick. He had opened Bella's door for her, and before I could even reach the other side of the car, he was already there waiting.

"Thanks." I tried to hide my curiosity, but all he did was smile before climbing into the car himself.

The ride back wasn't as silent as the one coming down. Alice was on the dance committee and decided to spill the beans to us about the theme and all the details of the decorations. The theme wasn't very original, "A Night under the Stars", but being a junior she wasn't allowed to choose it, just help decorate. Edward also talked about how excited he was the Bella was going with him. I must admit, I was jealous, but I was sure there wasn't much to be jealous of. The drama that went along with all relationships was something I would never be jealous of. Though that didn't stop me from thinking about having a date myself, if I could handle it.


	24. Phone Calls

I was able to sleep better Sunday night, after spending a long time talking to my mom about my weekend. She hadn't had a drink since the last time she got drunk after we moved here, which made me happy since I could have a decent conversation with her now.

Mom also made her famous hot coco that always made me feel better, so I was able to go to bed with a nice warm cup sitting right on my dresser.

School was no different than it was last week. Bella still talked with me through the classes we had and walked with me to class. Mike was a little more distant than he had been when I first met him, but Bella informed me that Jessica was going to ask him out, so his mood should be lifted in no time. Lucky for those of us that had to put up with him, most guys rebound and bounce back rather quickly from rejection.

The talk of the town was about nothing but the up coming dance on Friday. I was smart and avoided those conversations as much as I could during school hours, having yet to decide if I was going to risk going with anyone or not.

Unfortunately, my thoughts could no longer be put on hold when my phone started ringing only seconds after I pulled in my drive way.

"Hello?"

"Hi Andy, it's Jacob."

I felt my face immediately lighten up from the neutral emotionless place it had been at only seconds before.

"Hi Jake, how are you?"

"I'm doing alright, just thought I'd call and see how you were."

"I'm doing fine, just got home from school actually." I struggled a bit with my keys to open the door, having to balance everything in one arm and hold the phone with my head and shoulder.

"How was school today?"

"It was ok," I paused, mentally arguing with myself if I should or shouldn't bring up the dance, "just your boring old high school stuff."

"So I've heard. Word gets around quick in small towns, even up here in the reservation. The big news now is the big homecoming dance on Friday." My heart dropped, I had decided not to mention it, and there he went, trying to get my hopes up or something.

"Yeah, I actually went dress shopping with Bella and Alice the other day."

"Oh, so you're going?"

"I thought I would."

"Are you going with Newton?"

I laughed, tossing my book bag onto my bed before lying down beside it. "No, I'm going alone."

"You've got to be kidding me; no one has asked you yet?"

"Nope, not a single offer."

"Well then, we're just going to have to change that."

"Jake what are you,"

"I know this is a little forward and weird considering it's not even my school, but I would be honored if you would let me take you to the dance." My heart both flew and sank at the same time, if that was even possible. My insides screamed at me to say yes, but my brain, my more cautious part had to be sure.

"But you barely know me Jake."

"We can change that, it was the reason I was calling. It's not much, but it's what we do for entertainment around here."

"What is it?"

"Well, I can't tell you exactly what it is because it's a surprise."

"You don't lure naive girls away only to throw them in a pit and feed them to alligators do you?"

He laughed as well, sending chills down my arms with his deep husky bark of a laugh. "I thought we already established that I'm not a serial killer."

"Can't blame a girl for being cautious."

"No, I guess not. Anyways, we're going out Wednesday to do our thing, and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"Sure, I guess, I don't have anything else planned. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"That's ok, I can pick you up."

"Ok, as long as it's not out of the way."

He couldn't stay on the phone long, just long enough to tell me how excited he was that I would be coming with him. Five minutes later, he had to go to work. I asked him where he was employed, but he told me that it wasn't a real job, that he was just helping out his friends.

I sighed and stared at the dress hanging from my closet door. Would it be worth the risk?

I wish I could have given myself a straight answer, things seemed that they were starting to move fast and were only going to start moving faster.


	25. Missing

That night my mother came home with a terrified expression on her face, one that I hadn't seen on her in several weeks, one that normally meant bad news, and never anything good. She flung her bag on the couch, not bothering to take off her working clothes before starting to fix a strong pot of coffee.

"Mom, what's the matter?" I was hesitant before taking a seat at the dinning room table with her.

"Honey, now this doesn't mean we have to leave, but,"

"Did he find us?"

"No, Andy, listen. A detective came to the store today needing to know when was the last time we saw your father. Apparently, he has been missing since a few days after we did see him last, so about three months. He hasn't been into work, his new lady friend hasn't seen him either, it's like he just went off the radar."

"What does that mean mom?"

"I don't know honey, I really don't know."

"How did the detective find you?"

"Probably the same way he did all those times, police are just better at it than he was."

"Are you sure we don't have to leave?" I was praying for a no, I had just started to make friends and really wasn't ready to leave them yet.

"No Andy, we don't have to leave. Not yet anyways. I just want you to be careful."

"I know mom, I always am."

"Now, I really don't want to talk about this anymore. How was school today?"

I wasn't that easily distracted from a problem, but humored my mom and told her all about school and my classes. I even told her about my plans to hang out with Jacob and his friends, while she prepared dinner. I helped and put out the plates while she stayed over the oven.

"Mrs. Newton was telling me about her son and the dance that was coming up."

"Oh really?"

"Are you still planning on going Andy?"

"Well, I was thinking about it."

"I think it will be good for you, a good experience. The people in this town seem nice, and it really sounds like fun."

"I guess, I already bought the dress, so no turning back now."

"Has anyone asked you?"

"Well, I think so."

"You think so? Did they ask in a foreign language or something?"

"No mom. I meant, the guy I was telling you about before, Jake, he doesn't go to Forks High, but asked me anyways."

"Well, did you say yes?"

"I told him I didn't know him well enough, and that's why we're hanging out this week before hand."

"Oh honey. Well, I'm glad you're giving him a chance."

I smiled to myself, my back was to her, "me too mom, me too."

Dinner was uneventful. The dance seemed to be an open invitation for my mother to dive into tales of her high school dances. I paid attention as much as I could, but I had heard the stories at least a dozen times. Every time she heard about a dance, at whatever school I was attending, it seemed to be her mission in life to make me go. I never really told her why I didn't feel the need to attend, but we never stayed around long enough for either one of us to live to regret it.

I helped clear the table and soak the dishes, promising her that I would wash them as soon as I got out of the shower. I didn't bother turning on the light in my room as I grabbed my pajamas off my bed, and immediately regretted it. Before I could glance again, I could have sworn that I saw a large animal sitting beyond the trees, just watching. To make myself feel more at east I tried to reason that maybe it was just the lone wolf I had run into several nights before, but that was unlike normal wolf behavior.

After the dishes I still wasn't tired, so I decided to bore myself to sleep with French homework. True it was a beautiful language when spoken correctly, but I was terrible at it.

Eventually, much to my liking, I fell asleep with my face on my open book and my pen in my hand. I drifted into a dark dreamless sleep, something that was rare but appreciated when it came to how I liked to sleep.


	26. Cliff Diving

"So what are you doing tomorrow night Andy?" Asked Bella, she met up with me in the parking lot before school.

"I'm not sure. Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with Jacob, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last since I don't know what we're doing."

We put our conversation on pause as we rushed into the nearest building to get out of the storm that was quickly brewing in the sky. I hung up my jacket beside hers and took my seat even though we were early for class to be starting.

"What do you mean you don't know what you're doing?"

"Well, he asked me to hang out, but said it was going to be a surprise with him and his friends. Do you have any idea what he could mean?"

"I couldn't even begin to guess. Something outdoorsy maybe, all those boys love the outdoors."

"Should I be worried?"

"Worried, no, but defiantly be prepared for something different. When is he picking you up?"

"Somewhere between three and three thirty."

"What's going on today?" Edward joined us, taking his seat behind Bella.

"Nothing, Andy is just hanging out with Jacob." Bella put an end to the conversation because Edward looked like he wanted to say something along the lines of 'it isn't a good idea'. Neither one of us really cared about his opinion on that.

Neither one of us mentioned my plans for Wednesday for the rest of the day to prevent others from wanting to tag along. The anticipation was what fueled me through the rest of school I hardly paid attention to my classes or anyone else around me, too busy thinking about what his plans were to really care.

I drove home as carefully as I could; I had to watch my speed limit because of my anticipation causing my foot to become made of led. However, it didn't make a difference, when I pulled up, Jacob was already leaning against his motorcycle. He was dressed in the same clothes I had first met him in, but his chin length hair was pulled back out of his face. I was suddenly very self conscious about what I was wearing, how my hair looked, and if I should put on makeup. Normally I didn't care, about any of those things, but knowing he wanted to take me to the dance, and hang out with me of all people, made me feel things I thought I had talked myself into suppressing.

I bit my bottom lip slightly, a nervous habit I had, and shyly smiled before getting out of the Suburban.

"Am I late?" I asked, shouldering my bag and walking with him towards my house.

"No, you're right on time. I was just so excited I couldn't wait."

"What exactly are you excited for?" He laughed at my tone, but still wouldn't give away what we were doing.

"I can't tell you, but, you might want to change into something you don't want to get dirty, or wet, or whatever else might happen while we're out."

"Fine, I'll be right back."

I left him in the living room while I went to change into an old tank top and torn up jeans that I never wore unless my mother and I were painting a house. They were covered in different paint colors all over, matching my old tie-dye sweatshirt that I never wore out in public.

"Better?" I asked, shutting the door to my room while he studied my outfit.

"Much, and very colorful."

"Well, it would help if I knew what we were doing."

"You'll find out soon enough. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing we're taking your motorcycle again."

"Are you still nervous about it?"

"Not as much, it just takes some getting used to."

"Well lets go get you used to it, come on." He held open the door for me, stopping me from grabbing my purse and keys. "You won't need those, don't worry."

Jake got on the bike first after handing me the familiar helmet, and I crawled on after, wrapping my arms tight around him. I didn't feel very safe without a seat belt or air bags or doors, but the closer I was to him, the less my worries bothered me.

We drove for several minutes towards La Push, but went completely through their small town, and farther down the beach than Mike had taken our group before. We ended up on top of a cliff over looking the deep sea below. The sun was high in the sky, but light grey clouds were shielding it's rays from hitting us directly.

Over next to the cliff I recognized Quill and Embry, but they were in the company of several others I didn't know the name of. Jake parked the bike next to an old beat up green pick up truck and helped me off.

I walked beside him over to the group of people, pulling my hair back as we went to prevent it from getting in my face. There were only two other girls present among the large amount of boys.

"Hey Jake! Is this the girl you were telling us about?" Asked one of the girl, turning to fully face us. I felt my face going red as heat warmed my body, but it didn't last long. When I was able to see her whole face I was overcome with sadness. Three large scars ran down her body, curving the corners of her eye and lip on the right side of her face. They were a horrible shade of dark pink and set her face into a constant frown. But the other half of her face was smiling, and her eyes were full of a warm caring light that I had rarely seen in my life.

"Emily, this is Andy. Andy, this is Emily, her boyfriend Sam," another guy, just a bit taller than Jacob with longer hair walked up and put his arm around her, "and over there, you know Quill and Embry, and that's Leah, don't take anything she says personally or seriously,"

"I heard that Jake!"

"That's her little brother Seth," the smallest boy was the only one to reach out and shake my hand. I was surprised that his skin was almost as warm as Jacobs. "And that idiot over there is Paul," he greeted me with a grunt before walking over to Quill and Embry.

"It's really good that you were able to come Andy. We weren't sure if you would considering what we're doing." Emily patted a seat next to her as she sat down on a large rock.

"What are the plans?"

"Jake didn't tell you?"

"No, he said it was a surprise."

"Well, the boys like to come out cliff diving once a week; it's their idea of fun. Leah does it too, but I've never tried."

"Cliff diving, as in diving, off the cliff, into the water?" I shot a nervous glance over to where Paul just jumped off, shooting himself high into the air before plummeting down into the waves.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to Andy; I just thought you would like to come." Jake came over and took a seat with us as Embry threw himself over the edge.

"Isn't it dangerous?"

"A little bit, but none of us have sustained any serious injuries." He seemed proud of that.

"Are you going to do it?"

"In a minute, I wanted to see if you wanted to do it with me."

"You want me to jump off a cliff with you?"

"Consider it a lightening fast way to see if you can trust someone or not."

I thought about it for a second, his dark brown eyes never leaving my own. His happiness seemed to be resting on my answer. I was scared, my hands were shaking, and more than anything I wanted to stay dry and on the ground, but I decided against what I knew would keep me safe.

"Ok."

"Ok, you'll do it?"

"Yes."

He smiled wide and started to take off his shoes, socks and shirt. I slipped off my sweatshirt, but kept my shirt and pants on, following his example of with the shoes.

"Isn't it going to be cold?"

"Not too bad, by the time we get back up here there should be a fire."

I walked as close as I dared to the edge and glanced down. The waves were smashing against the bottom of the cliff.

"You ready?" He held out his hand and stepped so close that his toes were hanging off the ledge.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I slid my pale hand into his and was amazed at the contrast of skin, it was beautiful.

"Take a deep breath, and don't worry, I won't let go." His grip on my hand tightened, but wasn't painful, and I held on just as hard if not harder.

"One, two three," He yelled as he pulled us off the edge.

It all happened so fast, my stomach flew into my chest, my eyes closed as I held in a scream and my breath. For a few seconds I felt like I was flying through the clouds, the wind pushing my hair and body in the most amazing feeling. Too soon for my liking I hit the water, and kept going down. Jakes hand never left mine, and if it wasn't for him pulling me up, I probably would have kept going down.

My head broke the surface and a cool breeze nipped at my face. He was looking at me nervously, his hair still perfectly in place pulled back. Mine I was sure was all over the place.

"What did you think?"

"I think you and your friends are insane, but that was the most amazing thing."

I started to tread the water, careful of the waves pushing my body around. Maybe the water wasn't cold to him because of his abnormally high temperature, but it was like shards of ice stabbing my skin.

"You're shivering," I nodded, finding it near impossible to open my mouth again. "Emily probably has a fire going, let's get you out of this water."

He swam beside me back to the shore. I felt like he was going at a slower pace so that he didn't leave me behind, but I defiantly wasn't going to complain about it. I struggled pulling myself out of the deep water against the rocks, but every time I was close to falling, his hands caught me.

Eventually we made it out of the water and over to where Sam and driven his truck down to pick everyone up.

"Andy, you can ride in the cab, boys, get in back," Sam held open the door, and I quickly climbed in to where he had the heat turned on. The rest of the guys jumped into the bed, but I wasn't paying attention to them. I had my hands pressed against the vent to keep them from shaking.


	27. Questions

He was right, before Sam rounded the corner, a small pillar of smoke was already visible from the freshly lit fire. I had no problem making myself at home on one of the logs next to it. Though it was an experience I was never going to forget, once was all I could handle for the day.

While the boys all went another round, Emily handed me my sweatshirt and suggested I strip off the wet shirt and replace it before I get sick. I smiled the best I could to thank her, but it proved to be a more difficult task than I had imagined. I was amazed at how young she was, and yet, she was so motherly.

"Emily?" I asked, zipping up the sweatshirt all the way up to my throat and resuming my place next to the fire, "do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go right ahead."

"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking."

She smiled, obviously not offended, and came to sit down next to me. "I'm twenty four, why do you ask?"

"No reason, I was just curious. Do you mind if I ask another?"

"Sure Andy, you can ask me anything you want."

"I was just wondering, what happened, to, um," I couldn't finish the sentence, more out of embarrassment than lack of curiosity.

"You mean my face?"

I nodded, unable to look her directly in the eye.

"Don't take this the way it sounds, but it's a very long story that isn't mine to tell. You will find out, probably tonight if things go good."

"What do you mean?"

She didn't answer, but smiled warmly at me, took my hand in hers and gently squeezed them before going back to the food that was ready to go on the fire. I offered to help her cook, but she insisted that I stay seated by the fire and relax before the boys got back.


	28. Truth

It didn't take long for them to return. We could hear them hollering from the back of the truck before we could see it round the corner. Every one of them riding in the back jumped out before Sam had completely parked, and raced over to where Emily had stacked up the hot dogs on a plate. I was thankful that she had handed me one before they returned after seeing them devour almost every last one before they even took their seats.

Jake took a seat directly next to me, as did Emily on the other side, while the rest of them scattered around, shoving the food into their mouth's as quickly as they possibly could. Listening to them interact made me slightly jealous, knowing that they had grown up together, known almost every possible detail of each other, things that no matter how long I stayed in one place, I would never have. But it was an amusing sight to see.

Quil and Embry spent fifteen minutes fighting over what they believed to be the last hotdog, when everyone else got seconds from the second plate Emily had covered before they arrived.

The laughing seemed as though it was never going to end, the whole group was on a constant high as the sun started to sink deeper against the grey and dark blue backdrop. It was only then, when our faces were lit by nothing more than the light of the fire, that the attitude seemed to change.

Sam got up, along with Paul, Embry and Emily to start putting the plates and other utensils away.

"Well, you seem to be enjoying yourself." Said Jacob, shifting himself so that his legs straddled each side of the log and was now facing me completely.

"I think I can honestly say I haven't had this much fun in a while." I wasn't lying. It was rare that I ever felt that I actually fit in with a group of people as tightly together as these friends seemed to be, and it was defiantly a nice feeling.

"That's good to hear." His voice faded off as he started to stare down at his hands that were resting limply on his knees.

"Jake? What is it?" I reached out for his hand, something I never did, and gently, barely, touching it.

"There's something I need to tell you Andy. It's the reason I asked you to come out here tonight and meet everyone." I chanced a glance over my shoulder, and everyone had abandoned their previous chores and was now standing in a circle around us.

Before he even began to explain, I felt my heart breaking. In my head I knew what was about to come out of his mouth. I was too messed up, too much of a freak to be around him and his friends. He saw that I was damaged goods.

"Andy, why are you crying?" When his thumb brushed over my cheek, wiping away the lone tear that almost feel, I was snapped back into reality.

"No reason, just some dust from the fire flew into my eye."

He didn't buy it, but didn't push it either.

"Andy, there really isn't an easy way to tell you this,"

"Then maybe you shouldn't tell her at all Jake, she isn't one of us," Paul was the only one drifting back and forth, pacing around the group, arms crossed and face set.

"It's not your decision to make Paul, it's his." Quil quickly chimed in.

"It's our secret."

"And we put it to a vote, majority voted it was Jakes decision, so if you don't like it, then leave." Paul glared at Quil, but didn't leave the fire side.

"Andy, do you remember those stories I was telling everyone at the beach a few days ago?"

I nodded, trying to keep my full attention on Jake, rather than on Paul's grunting in displeasure.

"Well, they weren't exactly fictional stories that I made them out to be. Most of them weren't anyways. The couple and the romance, most of that I made up, but the legends are true."

"What do you mean? Your stories were about werewolves and vampires, stuff Hollywood producers make a living off of."

"The only difference is, Hollywood never gets it right."

"What? Jake you're not making any sense."

"Maybe I'd better explain it to her Jake." Sam stepped forward, pulling another log with him with almost no effort at all, and sat it a few feet in front of me. "Andy, he's not trying to scare you, or telling you fiction tales. There are such things as monsters out there. The kind that hunt, and kill, and have no remorse for taking human life. The most deadliest, smartest, and hardest to catch and kill, are vampires. Unlike most of the country, our people, the people who live on this reservation, still believe in the legends passed down generation to generation. Those stories are longer, and if you decide to stick around after learning the truth, then we'll tell them to you. One thing you must know is that vampires need to kill to survive, werewolves, do not. Only one thing can kill a vampire, and that is what we are, what we were born to do. We're werewolves Andy."

Out of all the movies I had seen, of all the books I had read, not once had I ever imagined something like this would happen to me, let alone in one of them. In all them, they were monsters, trying to get the poor helpless girl to fall victim to their sad tales.

"You mean hairy, moon cursed creatures? Man by day, creature by night?"

"Andy if that were true, we would all be transformed by now."

"Then what? How?"

"It hasn't happened to the reservation in many generations. By the time we came around, we believed them to be tales, just like everyone else our age believed. But when a certain family that are known as the cold-ones moved back into town, it triggered something, and the changes began to happen."

"Changes?"

"Think about it like, an extreme growth spurt, unnatural strength, and the ability to change into the one thing that can kill what threatens this land."

"So you're all?"

"Everyone here except for Emily, and yourself of course."

"I take it you don't tell many people this?"

"Outside of the group and the Council, only you and Bella Swann know our secret."

I turned my attention back to Jake, who was still staring down at his hands.

"Show me."

His head shot up and looked horrified. "What? No?"

"Either show me, or I'm just going to have to assume there's something in the water and that you're all crazy."

"Andy you don't know what you're asking."

"Yes I do."

"It's dangerous, I could hurt you."

"But you won't."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do."

"How?"

"I can see it in your eyes. Your eyes give you away Jake."

"Sam, tell her that it's too dangerous."

"Jake, you have more control over most of us here, I think you'll be able to. You wanted her to know, I think you owe her that much."

He hesitated, but I couldn't back down from asking what I really wanted, what I needed to see. Part of me believed their stories. I always knew that there had to be something more in this world, but I didn't know if it was more of a wish than actual knowledge.

"Fine, but then you'll let me explain everything else?"

I nodded, unable to accept that there was more than needed to be explained.

"Let me borrow your truck." Sam tossed him the keys, that he caught without even having to look, in the hand that wasn't reaching for mine.

I slid into the truck before asking any questions.

"Where are we going?"

"When we change, it's rapid, and quick, and rips our clothes if we don't take them off, so since I have the time to do so, I'm going out of range of them seeing me. Well, Emily really, and Leah, she can be a real pain when it comes to that sort of stuff."

He pulled over before he finished talking, just around the corner, out of sight and ear shot of the rest of them. He left the lights on the truck on and pointed towards the trees. I slowly climbed out, my hands shaking, though I couldn't tell if that was from the cold air or my nerves.

"Andy, promise me you'll stay right here and won't move."

"Why what would-?"

"I wasn't exaggerating when I said it was dangerous. I'm sure you noticed Emily's scars?" I nodded again. "She was too close to Sam when he phased out of anger one day, and now he has to live with seeing that for the rest of his life, knowing that he caused the one person in this world he loves most that much pain. Our trigger is anger, and I haven't even been doing this as long as Sam, I don't want to take any chances with you."

"But why me? What makes me so special to be able to know all this?"

"That, is something I'll explain after." He jogged off quickly behind one of the larger tree's and in no time, was stepping out. His eyes held mine to his, away from the embarrassment of being completely exposed, and very quickly, almost instantly, with a tremor, his body exploded.


	29. Truth II

In his place stood a giant wolf, as large as a horse. But that wasn't what shocked me. What caused my heart to stop, and my body to freeze, was that I had seen the wolf before. I had spent time with this wolf when I first moved here. He looked at me, his eyes still the same, searching my face for a sign of fear, but I knew he wasn't going to find one. I ignored his warning, since he had already phased, and stepped forward, hand outstretched.

He didn't back away, or growl at me, not that I expected him too. Instead, he lowered himself on the ground as I ran my hand through his thick soft mane. He let me pet him for a minute, before shifting back slightly, and with another tremor, was kneeling down in front of me in the same position he was before.

"Andy?"

"Yeah?" I replied, not taking my eyes off the back of his head that I had just been stroking only moments before.

"Do you mind going back to the truck and killing the lights so that I can get dressed?"

I blushed and turned around before he could see and did as he could ask. He got his clothes on quicker than he had taken them off, and caused me to jump when he tapped on the window for me to unlock the doors.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't."

"Really? I know this is a lot to take in, and I'd understand if you'd want me to leave you alone from now on."

I was horrified, "What? Jake no! I don't want that at all."

"Then why were you crying earlier?"

"It was because I was scared,"

"I knew it."

"But not because of what you think."

"Then what?"

"I thought it was you that were going to tell me you didn't want to hang out with me, or see me anymore."

"I could never say that to you Andy, come here." He motioned for me to slid closer to him. I did, hesitantly. I wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting. He gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close to him so that my head was resting on his chest. "I would never say anything to hurt you, in any way." I nodded again, lost in the warmth of his embrace to really remember what I was thinking earlier.

My mother and I lived the lifestyle of a higher breed of a gypsy. The one rule I always found comfort in was not getting close to people. I liked to have hope that maybe this time we would stay here for the remainder of my high school career, but who was I kidding? I knew what he was capable of. And I knew that he was going to find me. So the one thing I really had to decide, was if I was going to let him take away the little amount of time I got to spend with someone who seemed to genuinely care about me.


End file.
